Thank silicone valley that i have an app on my cell phone that determines where the CAT s are ! I just fire her up just before my legs fall into a paraplegic seizure due to modern airline seat constraints and presto! I can remove my seat belt and EVEN walk around because CAT is not forecasted for another 22.24 minutes ! Figure that !

Shoulder belts are great for rapid deceleration and for ejection, conecting you to your parachute. The lap belt and 5th connection between your legs are what will hold you in your seat in turbulence. I also have never known anyone to wear shoulder belts above 10k unless we were flying an ejection seat.

This glider pilot bonked his head on the canopy over the foothills not that many days ago - plus I suspect a battery connector interrupted the circuit. I thought I had my straps tight (previous head bonks). They're even tighter now.

It's just more comfortable, and as mentioned there isn't a safety advantage.

My couch is comfortable, and has no seatbelts. My airplane is less comfortable, and has seatbelts. I wear all of them all of the time. I'm not in my (or any) plane for comfort, so It'd rather be tied into it with all the belts. Perhaps not tightened right up, but at least latched in place.

I fly with pilots that routinely unhook their shoulder harnesses for whatever perceived advantage. I don't get that either.

It's just more comfortable, and as mentioned there isn't a safety advantage.

Curious: you are flying at FL320. There is moderate and severe turbulence forecasted in the area. You are trying to avoid the worst of it, but you are getting shaken around. Do you leave your shoulder harnesses unhooked?

Not sure what you mean exactly, but I wear my seatbelts/harness the same way at every time in the flight, whether I'm on short final or in cruise.

How about you answer my question now?

Curious: you are flying at FL320. There is moderate and severe turbulence forecasted in the area. You are trying to avoid the worst of it, but you are getting shaken around. Do you leave your shoulder harnesses unhooked?

But, the shoulder harness does nothing to keep you safe unless you're decelerating. It then holds your upper torso from tilting forward and prevents hitting your head on the glareshield, like a shoulder belt of a car helps when you have a head on collision.

The lap belt is what keeps you in the seat when vertical movement would otherwise throw you up against the roof. So... On landing, especially ditching on the Hudson, shoulder straps are great. It does nothing in cruise. Pushing negative g, you'll feel the lap belt hold your thighs and hips in the seat. Unless shoulder straps are locked, they do nothing to hold you in and even then, they don't do much in the vertical. You can lock your harness so you're immobilized but it's like being in a straight jacket and then you can't reach any switches or turn to look around. I never locked my harness when flying aerobatics, even with some decent negative g. Locking it was purely for an emergency landing.

Wear shoulder straps if you want, wear them because your couch doesn't have them (not sure what that point was) wear them because they're installed. If it's a short flight or you're single engine and might have a forced landing, sure.

But there's little purpose to them after V1 until landing. Sitting for 5 or 10 hours with those filthy straps rubbing on my shoulders serves no purpose in cruise.

But, the shoulder harness does nothing to keep you safe unless you're decelerating. It then holds your upper torso from tilting forward and prevents hitting your head on the glareshield, like a shoulder belt of a car helps when you have a head on collision.

The lap belt is what keeps you in the seat when vertical movement would otherwise throw you up against the roof. So... On landing, especially ditching on the Hudson, shoulder straps are great. It does nothing in cruise. Pushing negative g, you'll feel the lap belt hold your thighs and hips in the seat. Unless shoulder straps are locked, they do nothing to hold you in and even then, they don't do much in the vertical. You can lock your harness so you're immobilized but it's like being in a straight jacket and then you can't reach any switches or turn to look around. I never locked my harness when flying aerobatics, even with some decent negative g. Locking it was purely for an emergency landing.

Wear shoulder straps if you want, wear them because your couch doesn't have them (not sure what that point was) wear them because they're installed. If it's a short flight or you're single engine and might have a forced landing, sure.

But there's little purpose to them after V1 until landing. Sitting for 5 or 10 hours with those filthy straps rubbing on my shoulders serves no purpose in cruise.

If they are unlocked, do they act like a car seatbelt where they will lock if they feel a sudden deceleration?

If you don't mind, I'm curious: you are flying at FL320. There is moderate and severe turbulence forecasted in the area. You are trying to avoid the worst of it, but you are getting shaken around. Do you leave your shoulder harnesses unhooked?

Why are we talking about the pilots? Everyone unlatches their shoulder belts above 10k unless it’s definitely going to be gnarly. It’s just way more comfortable. That being said, when riding as a passenger I always have my lap belt secured because why not? Who knows what kind of dummy is flying. Might as well, plus it’s hardly even noticeable if you keep it slightly loose.

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Last edited by mixturerich on Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Why are we talking about the pilots? Everyone unlatched their shoulder belts above 10k unless it’s definitely going to be gnarly.

Aha, thank you! I'm assuming that the other posters would do the same.

Pilots don't wear their shoulder harness unless it is definitely going to be gnarly.

Pax don't wear their seatbelts unless it is gnarly.

So the pilots that don't wear their shoulder harness all the time, complain that the pax don't wear their seatbelt all the time.

People are people. Whether you are sitting in the front or the back, the attitudes are often the same. If you are wondering why the pax aren't wearing their seatbelts at a non-mandatory time, think about why you are not wearing you shoulder harness at a non-mandatory time: for comfort and because you don't deem it important or necessary at that time.

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